Elastic manufacturing: provisioning and deprovisioning production capacity to vary product volume and mix
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 3 January 2024
Issue publication date: 22 October 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Advancements in responsive manufacturing have been supporting companies over the last few decades. However, manufacturers now operate in a context of continuous uncertainty. This research paper explores a mechanism where companies can “elastically” provision and deprovision their production capacity, to enable them in coping with repeated disruptions. Such a mechanism is facilitated by the imitability and substitutability of production resources.
Design/methodology/approach
An inductive study was conducted using Gioia methodology for this theory generation research. Respondents from 20 UK manufacturing companies across multiple industrial sectors reflected on their experience during COVID-19. Resource-based view and resource dependence theory were employed to analyse the manufacturers' use of internal and external production resources.
Findings
The study identifies elastic responses at four operational levels: production-line, factory, company and supply chain. Elastic responses that imposed variable-costs were particularly well-suited for coping with unforeseen disruptions. Further, the imitability and substitutability of manufacturers helped others produce alternate goods during the crisis.
Originality/value
While uniqueness of production capability helps manufacturers sustain competitive advantage against competitors during stable operations, imitability and substitutability are beneficial during a crisis. Successful manufacturing companies need to combine these two approaches to respond effectively to repeated disruptions in a context of ongoing uncertainties. The theoretical contribution is in characterising responsive manufacturing in terms of resource heterogeneity and resource homogeneity, with elastic resourcing as the underlying mechanism.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and the editors for their thoughtful comments and advice. This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under grants EP/T024429/1, EP/R024367/1 and EP/V062123/1, and in part by the Economic and Social Research Council – The Productivity Institute under grant ES/V002740/1. The authors also thank Svetan Ratchev, Jack Chaplin and Darius Danaei for helpful discussions and insightful comments.
Citation
Rama Murthy, S., Sousa-Zomer, T.T., Minshall, T., Velu, C., Kazantsev, N. and McFarlane, D. (2024), "Elastic manufacturing: provisioning and deprovisioning production capacity to vary product volume and mix", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 44 No. 11, pp. 1893-1917. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-02-2023-0129
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited